Jonathan Rhys Meyers to star in spy thriller

Howard Kaplan's celebrated 1977 thriller novel The Damascus Cover is getting the cinematic treatment and Dublin-born actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has landed a leading role.

The film is set in the late 80s as the Berlin Wall crumbles, and details the efforts of a veteran spy (Meyers) to escort a scientist and his family out of Syria.

Olivia Thirlby and John Hurt also star in the film, which starts filming in Morocco this week.